ZIMBABWE FACES DOUBLE THREAT OF DROUGHT AND COVID HAVING LOST HER HUSBAND TO COVID-19, THANDEKILE AND HER YOUNG FAMILY FACED DROUGHT AND HUNGER. TRÓCAIRE’S LENTEN APPEAL FOCUSES ON SUPPORTING FAMILIES LIKE THANDEKILE’S IN REBUILDING THEIR LIVES BY DAVID O'HARE
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rócaire’s 2022 Lenten Appeal launches on Ash Wednesday, March 2, and this year’s appeal is focusing on the challenges facing people in Zimbabwe who are dealing with the twin threats of drought due to climate change, and COVID-19. Seven million people living in poverty, especially women, in drought-prone southern Zimbabwe have been disproportionately affected by the longterm impacts of COVID-19. Families were already unable to grow enough food to feed themselves because of drought and climate change, and now these challenges have been further exacerbated by the impact of the virus. Women, who are the primary producers of food, have faced a massive increase in violent genderbased violence since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Travel restrictions have also resulted in far fewer opportunities for people to earn a living and poverty levels have increased. FACING HUNGER The face of the appeal this year is Thandekile (31). Thandekile and her young family are facing hunger because the impacts of the pandemic have compounded the effects of drought and reduced the ways for people to earn a living. Every day is a struggle for Thandekile whose only wish is to be able to provide for her children Nomatter (11) and Forward (8). The effects of climate change, including three droughts and a severe cyclone in the past five years, means that crops are failing, affecting the ability of the family to feed themselves.
40 REALITY MARCH 2022
Even before COVID-19, Thandekile and her family were facing hunger as droughts and heavy rainfall caused their plants and crops to fail. The family would often go nights without eating as food was not always available in their community. In November 2020, the family’s already fragile world was turned upside down when COVID-19 hit. Thandekile’s husband Donovan (35) passed away from the virus while he was working in South Africa to earn an income to provide for his family. Left widowed, now Thandekile’s greatest fear is that she will die from COVID-19 or hunger and there will be no one to look after her children. “I live for my children and my wish is to be able to provide for all their needs. My greatest fear is to die whilst my kids are still young. I pray that the Lord keeps me so that I raise them until they are old enough to take care of themselves,” she says. “The death of my husband hit me very hard and I was bed-ridden for days. I did not know how I was going to move on and raise my children without the presence of their father,” she says. “His death greatly affected my children too. Donovan was a good father to our children and a good husband to me.” LIVING WITH LOSS Following the passing of Donovan, Thandekile struggled even more to provide food for her family, as grieving for her husband meant that she couldn’t engage in farming activities which delayed the planting of crops and made them even more vulnerable to heavy rainfall.
